No. 25 Cyclones Fall in Five Sets at Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. – The No. 25 Iowa State volleyball team was in a battle throughout the entire match with Oklahoma at the McCasland Field House. However, it was the Sooners who came out on top 3-2 (20-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-17, 12-15) Saturday afternoon. The loss dropped Iowa State to 8-5 on the season and 2-1 in Big 12 play. Oklahoma improved to 14-3 and 2-1 in the Big 12.

Turning Point of the MatchThe fifth set was grueling, tough battle with no margin for error for most of the set. However, Oklahoma was eventually able to get ahead. After a Mackenzie Bigbee kill got ISU back to an 11-10 deficit, Oklahoma went on a 3-0 run on the back of Sallie McLaurin to get it to 14-10 and a match point.

Iowa State was able to fight off the first two match points, but on the third one Kierra Holst buried a kill to give Oklahoma the match.

Cyclone Match Ball Goes to…Kristen Hahn. There were a lot of Iowa State performances of note, but in the end it was the senior who put together another incredible performance to help keep the Cyclones in the thick of things.

Hahn finished the afternoon with 39 digs, a career-high and only three off the school record. In the second set, which Iowa State won 25-17, Hahn was at her best with 10 digs. She went on to have nine more digs in the third set. Hahn also chipped in seven assists and a service ace.

Honorable mention to Mackenzie Bigbee, who continued her sensational form with 18 kills at a .333 hitting clip and 11 digs. The Iowa State middle blockers were also on form with Tenisha Matlock getting 14 kills at a .538 hitting percentage, and Tory Knuth had eight kills at .500 hitting, an ace and two solo blocks and three block assists.

Cyclone Notes*The loss snapped Iowa State’s four-game winning streak against Oklahoma. Iowa State was the only team in the Big 12 with an active winning streak against all of its conference opponents.*Iowa State out-dug Oklahoma 88-to-72. The Cyclones have only been out-dug once this season.*Jenelle Hudson had 55 assists and 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Hudson also had a career-high with five kills.*Mackenzie Bigbee led the Iowa State attack with 18 kills, her 11th time this season in double-figures.*Bigbee posted her second-straight double-double with 11 digs. For the week, Bigbee had 35 kills and 25 digs.*Kristen Hahn had a career-high 39 digs. Her previous best was 35 at North Dakota State in 2011.*Hahn moved to third in Iowa State history in career digs, passing Brittany Dalager (2001-04). She has 1,594 digs in her career.*Victoria Hurtt’s 11 kills marked fifth time this season she was in double-figures and 32nd of her career.*Ciara Capezio posted her fourth double-double of her career with 10 kills and 13 digs. She has had eight matches this season with at least 10 kills, and sixth match with at least 10 digs.*Tory Knuth tied her career-high in hitting percentage with her .500 clip. She also hit .500 at Iowa this season.*Knuth also tied a career-high with two solo blocks. She also had two against North Carolina in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Championship.*Tenisha Matlock’s 14 kills marked the fourth time this season and 15th of her career that she had at least 10 kills.

On DeckThe Cyclones return to Hilton Coliseum next week for a pair of matches. Wednesday night will feature a match with Kansas State at 6:30 p.m. Next Saturday brings West Virginia to Ames for a 4 p.m. match.